Anti-nuclear protestors said their cause is 'still relevant' when they reunited to mark the 40th anniversary of one of the UK’s largest ever acts of civil disobedience.

In 1983 demonstrators gathered in Upper Heyford near Bicester to protest against nuclear weapons.

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More than 5,000 people took part in the 1983 protest and the police made 752 arrests.

On Saturday, June 3, the returning demonstrators held a meeting at the site of the ‘peace camp.’

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They then walked to the Heritage Centre on the site of the former US Air force base at Upper Heyford.

Here there will soon be two new display panels with information about the 1983 blockade and other protests.

Steve Barwick, one of the founders of the ‘peace camp’ and the four-day blockade, said: “The reunion went really well, and it was a very worthwhile occasion.

“I think what a lot of people felt is that we are now moving back into the era of nuclear re-armament.

“We thought it was important to remind everyone that last time this was happening people protested; they were concerned about nuclear arms.

Key people who helped organise and support the blockade in 1983 were present on Saturday, June 3.

One of the women who attended the reunion was the face of the leaflet for the protest in 1983.

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Mr Barwick added: “The 1983 blockade really was an extraordinary event.

“What we would like to see now some kind of permanent commemoration to the peace camp.

“The spirit of idealism and protest, which the Upper Heyford Peace Camp represented, and its message that peace is always the preferable option, is still relevant forty years later.

“With recent nuclear sabre rattling by Vladimir Putin, it is vital that voices for peace are raised again.”

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Adrian Sinclair a student in Oxford in 1983 who helped organise the four-day peace blockade, said: “Looking back it is remarkable how much was achieved by so few people.

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“The peace camp was forever organising protests – not just marches and blockades but vigils, occupations, and even prayer meetings.

“Fear about a nuclear conflict were genuine, and rising, and people felt they had to do something to stop nuclear Armageddon.

“It is clear now the peace movement in the 1980s, and events such as the four day peace blockade, changed the climate of opinion and did help usher in an era of global nuclear disarmament which sadly is now being reversed. I am glad I played my part.”